netdemonboberb writes: "According to this article, Apple patents USPTO 7657849 and 8046721, regarding slide to unlock capabilities, are the next in the line of patents for technology that Apple didn't really invent but was just the only company brazen enough to file patents for. There are already four points that can invalidate the patent, described in the article, including prior art of another phone and an ACM Journal in 1992. Additionally, the patents are too general and cover almost any User Interface to unlock a phone. This is just another in a growing list of examples of how the US patent system is being abused, costing company budgets defending themselves from frivolous patents at the expense of innovation and technology growth."